Amelia hurried down the sun-dappled corridor formed by the high green walls with little thought to her surroundings. Crispin had told her the hedge maze on this Mayfair estate was famous. Lovely statues and fountains could be found tucked into all sorts of blind corners and dead ends. She wasn’t interested in any of them, however, nor was she concerned about getting lost. In addition to the note Gideon had sent, he also provided a little map.

Truthfully, she had little need for the map now. A few minutes of study and she had memorized the path she had to take. She had always been adept at that sort of thing. Puzzles and riddles were one of the few diversions in her life, in addition to her passion for novels.

It was far easier to ignore the tedious loneliness of her life when she had her nose buried in a book.

Of course, the last thing she was feeling at this moment was bored. No, ever since she had received Gideon’s request to meet her in the maze, her heart had been working double time.

She had no idea what an earl was doing at this dreadful lawn party Viscount Worthing insisted she attend. But since Crispin had decided against joining her, he couldn’t prevent her from meeting Gideon now.

I just have to be cautious. As long as she kept her guard up and didn’t reveal too much, everything would be well. Crispin had overreacted to the earl’s overture of friendship. It was only natural that Martin’s relation wanted to know more about him and their marriage. The two cousins had been quite close at one time.

In a few more turns, she would be at the center of the maze. Amelia smiled and took a few moments to repair her coiffure and straighten her skirts. Martin would have teased her mercilessly for her mad dash to get to Gideon.

“You would knock me over like a ninepin if he crooked his finger at you,” Martin had teased her once during one of Gideon’s visits. It had been true then. Unfortunately, it appeared it was true now. But she couldn’t help her reaction.

She could almost hear Martin laughing at her now. How she missed his laugh.

Sighing, Amelia turned the last corner, expecting to see Gideon’s tall golden form in front of her. Her blood ran cold when she saw who was lying in wait.

“It’s about time you appeared,” Sir Clarence said crossly. “You’ve kept me waiting long enough.”

She stood frozen, a few steps from the refuge of the hedge. Her impulse was to turn and run back into the safety of the maze, but her mind threw up an image of her father, so she gathered herself and stood ramrod straight.

She was not a little girl anymore. This man had no power over her. It was time she made that clear.

“Well, quit dallying, girl. Ellie should have brought you round a full ten minutes ago.”

I should have known. That duplicitous schemer was behind the note. And to think, Amelia had once wanted her former guardian to marry the woman so he would have something else to occupy his time.

Feeling like a French queen walking to her execution, Amelia marched forward. At the center of the maze were two semicircular benches situated under a trellis of ivy to shade them from the sun. It would have been a lovely spot to converse with a confidante.

“Hello, sir,” she said dutifully, sitting across from her former guardian.

Sir Clarence sneered. “Don’t hello me, you undisciplined chit. I know you’ve been avoiding me. I have summoned you several times in the last few weeks.”

She inclined her head. “I was not at liberty to visit when you directed, but I did call on you twice last month when I arrived in town.”

He toyed with his cane. “Yes, and I was conveniently out both times.”

Amelia hoped her shrug was as unaffected and casual as she intended. “I completely understand. You’re a very busy man,” she said generously.

“Don’t try to fob me off with flattery, girl,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her. “I know you didn’t accidentally miss me. But the time for your little games is over. We’re going to decide once and for all what to do with you.”

Her spine stiffened, heat creeping up her neck. “We? Don’t you mean you?”

Sir Clarence glared at her. “Obviously, I mean me. In the short time you have been in town, you have demonstrated you can’t be trusted to run your own affairs, so I have to do it for you.”

“And just what do you mean by that?” she asked, fully aware of the answer.

“You disgrace yourself and me by running around with that fop Worthing. You will cut all ties to him immediately.”

Amelia was incensed. “I will do no such thing. Lord Worthing is my closest friend. He was Martin’s closest confidante. I consider him family.”

Sir Clarence flushed a deep purplish-red behind his beard. “I am your only family. As I am your only male relation, you will do as I say!” He took several deep breaths until he was no longer near apoplexy. “I don’t care what that bastard Worthing is to you. You will stop associating with him now…and in a few months’ time, we will announce your engagement to Lord Cannonburry.”

“Cannonburry?” Amelia couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d declared an interest in taking religious orders. “But Elmer Cannonburry is one step away from being bedridden. The man is practically decrepit!”

Without signaling his intention, Sir Clarence calmly reached over and slapped her in the face.

Compared to some of the times he’d struck her as a child, the blow was not that powerful. No, there had been slaps that had made her ears ring, leaving red impressions on her face for days. By comparison, this was mild, but it had been years since anyone had raised a hand to her…

Amelia could feel her resolve to deal with him as an equal waver. Her spirit was shrinking down, leaving a frightened, child-sized soul rattling around in her adult body.

I am not that child anymore, she reminded herself desperately. Fisting her hands, she blinked rapidly until she had fought back the tears and won.

“We’ll wait until the wedding before bringing you back to town,” Sir Clarence continued as if nothing had happened. “In the meantime, you will accompany me back to Northumberland until the banns are read.”

“No.”

“You don’t get to say no.”

“Yes, I do.” Her heart was threatening to stop, but there was no way she’d allow this farce to continue another second.

“You have no say in my life anymore. I came of age over three years ago. I control my life and my fortune.” Amelia cocked her head to one side. “Did you make some sort of arrangement with Cannonburry? Is he under the impression that as my husband, he would control my fortune? You know it’s not true. The man I marry receives my dowry and nothing more. And since Martin already gave it all to you, there is nothing left for Cannonburry if I make a second marriage—or for you.”

Sir Clarence leaned back on the bench and watched her through slitted eyes. “Martin told you?”

“Of course he told me,” she said from between gritted teeth. “It was my idea. You see I hoped—in vain—that my dowry would be enough to satisfy your greed.”

He reached out to slap her again, but Amelia shot to her feet and dodged the blow. He followed suit, his finger pointed at her accusingly.

“How dare you accuse me of greed? I gave you a home, fed and clothed you when you had no one.”

Amelia shook her head. This was an old argument, but she’d never had a chance or the will to rebut it. She would do so now. “Even an orphan has options when they possess a fortune as large as mine. I know full well this was the reason you took me in. I also remember how angry you were when you learned my guardian did not have the right to touch my funds beyond the stipend provided to educate and clothe me.”

She folded her hands in front of her. “My father thought of everything when he realized your claim to be my guardian would be strongest. He didn’t trust you an inch.”

Sir Clarence’s glare was hot enough to blister her skin, but he said nothing.

“I told Martin to give you the entire sum of my dowry in the hopes you would leave us alone,” she said. “Did you already spend all ten thousand pounds?”

Her eyes swept over him, taking in the fine cut of his coat. Even if he’d purchased a hundred like it, he couldn’t have spent the entire sum. “Was the money lost in some wild scheme? Poor investments? Or is ten thousand simply not enough for you? Did Cannonburry agree to turn some portion of my funds to you? Or do your solicitors believe they’ve figured out some sort of legal trickery to break the terms of my father’s trust? Is this why you are pushing for this farce of a marriage?”

Sir Clarence’s hands shot out, taking her arms above the elbow in a tight painful grip. “You owe me more than money. You owe me your very life.”

“No, not you,” she said. Her throat was so tight she could barely get the words out. “My debt was to Martin. And I paid him back by being a loving and devoted wife—a wife who kept his secrets.”

She pulled away so abruptly his nails marked the delicate muslin cloth of her sleeve. “As his widow, I will continue to keep those secrets, but this is the last time I will meet you in private. In public, I will acknowledge you as my father-in-law with all the respect and courtesy that tie demands. But you no longer have any rights over my person or my fortune. Accept this now or…”

“Or what?” Sir Clarence spat. “Do you expect me to believe you would really desecrate his memory?”

Amelia suppressed a shudder. “He’s gone. Through some twist of fate, my reputation went with him. I have nothing left to lose.”

She turned, forcing herself to walk away at a normal pace.

“You’re wrong Amelia,” Sir Clarence spat after her. “You still have quite a bit to lose.”

She ignored him, refusing to turn around to look at him. It took every ounce of willpower she had but managed to keep walking until she was past the first corner, beyond his sight.

Then she ran.